1. This Report has been published in response to
the recommendation made in the First Report from the Liaison Committee,
Session 1999-2000, Shifting the Balance: Select Committees
and the Executive, that it expected "all appropriate
select committees, by the rise of the House for the Christmas
2000 recess to assess progress on 'live' recommendations and criticisms,
and to report".[1]

2. The Report surveys the International Development
Committee's scrutiny of the Department for International Development
(DFID), and the policies of other multilateral agencies to which
DFID contributes, and then goes on to consider relations with
the Department, including the timeliness and quality of Government
responses to Committee Reports. It examines the Government responses
to, and outstanding issues arising from, Committee Reports in
the first three sessions of this Parliament. It concludes by examining
some innovations and other activities of the Committee which may
be of wider interest.